Refrigerated cabinet

ABSTRACT

A refrigeration system comprising a refrigerated cabinet having a front opening through which access is gained to the cabinet and the cabinet being subdivided into at least one compartment. Each compartment is adapted to be occupied by a drawer, each drawer being moveable within the compartment from a retracted position at which it is accommodated within the compartment and an extended position at which it partly extends forwardly from the compartment and whereby the interior of the drawer is accessible. The system further comprises cooling means provided remote from the cabinet. Each compartment has valved porting means provided in a rear wall thereof for connecting to the cooling means wherein when the drawer is in the retracted position, the cooling means is in fluid communication with the drawer and when the drawer is in an extended position the cooling means is isolated from the compartment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.10/552,409 filed Nov. 11, 2006, which is the U.S. national phaseapplication of PCT application Serial No. PCT/AU04/00447 filed Apr. 6,2004, now abandoned, which, in turn, claims priority to Australianapplication Serial No. 2003901561 filed Apr. 7, 2003. The disclosures ofwhich are incorporated in their entirety by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerated cabinet andrefrigeration system.

2. Background

It is a characteristic of refrigerated cabinets such as domesticrefrigerators that they provide a storage space and have a front doorwhich is opened to enable access into the storage space. A difficultywith conventional domestic refrigerators arises from the circumstancesthat when the door is opened, all of the cold air contained within thestorage cabinet is able to readily escape through the open front openingof the storage space. In addition in commercial situations it is anestablished practice to provide cool rooms with doors which facilitateaccess into the cool room for the purposes of extracting goods from thecool room and/or the purposes of entry. Furthermore in retail sites itis common practice to provide refrigerated cabinets which have apermanently open front opening to facilitate access by customers to thegoods contained within that cabinet through the open front opening. Inorder to prevent the loss of cool air from the cabinet it is usualpractice to generate a forced air flow through the space which tends tocontrol the flow of cool air to limit its loss through the open frontopening of the cabinet and/or to provide a curtain-like closure whichprovides a temporary closure to the space but which is readily capableof being displaced to enable access into the space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a refrigerationsystem comprising a refrigerated cabinet having a front opening throughwhich access is gained to the cabinet, the cabinet being subdivided intoat least one compartment, each compartment adapted to be occupied by adrawer, each drawer being moveable within the compartment from aretracted position at which it is accommodated within the compartmentand an extended position at which it partly extends forwardly from thecompartment, and whereby the interior of the drawer is accessible froman upper portion of the drawer, the system further comprising coolingmeans provided remote from the cabinet, each compartment having valvedporting means provided in a rear wall thereof for connecting to thecooling means wherein when the drawer is in the retracted position, thecooling means is in fluid communication with the drawer and when thedrawer is in an extended position the cooling means is isolated from thecompartment.

Preferably the refrigerated cabinet is one of a plurality ofrefrigerated cabinets and the cooling means is provided to eachrefrigerated cabinet from a common cooling source.

Preferably the valved porting means comprises a short connecting ductentering the rear wall of the compartment and housing a valve which isadapted to be engaged by a nozzle in the rear wall of the drawer.

The invention will be more fully understood in the light of thefollowing description of several specific embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawingsof which;

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional side elevation of a refrigerated cabinetaccording to the first embodiment with the door in a closed position;and

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side elevation of a refrigerated cabinetaccording to the first embodiment with the door in the open position anda drawer in an extended position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic isometric view of a refrigerated compartmentaccording to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic representation of a leaved valve in aconnecting duct according to the fourth embodiment, the valve being inthe closed position.

FIG. 4B is a diagrammatic representation of a leaved valve in aconnecting duct according to the fourth embodiment, the valve being inthe open position.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional side elevation of a refrigeratedcompartment according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic isometric view of a refrigeration system usingthree refrigerated compartments according to the fourth embodimentconnected to a common cooling source.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional side elevation of a refrigeration systemaccording to the fourth embodiment using refrigerated compartmentsconnected to a common cooling source.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The first embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings relates to adomestic refrigerator which comprises a cabinet 11 which defines astorage space within its interior. The cabinet 11 is open at its frontopening and is provided with a door 13 which is associated with thefront opening to be moveable from a closed position as shown at FIG. 1to prevent access to the front opening of the cabinet and an openposition as shown at FIG. 2 which enables access to the front opening ofthe cabinet. The storage space of the cabinet includes a zone which isdefined by a set of compartments 15. Each compartment 15 is closed atits lower and upper face. In addition the rear face of each compartmentis closed by a closure element 17 which is pivotally supported from thelower wall of the respective compartment such that it is moveablebetween a closed position at which the upper edge of the closure 17substantially sealingly cooperates with the rearmost end of the upperwall of the compartment and an open position at which the compartment isdeclined rearwardly to provide communication into the compartmentthrough the gap defined between the upper edge of the closure and therear edge of the uppermost wall of the respective compartment.

The cabinet is associated with a conventional refrigeration circuitcomprises compressor 19 supported in the lower portion of the cabinet, acondenser 21 supported from the rear exterior face of the cabinet and avaporiser 22 which is accommodated at the upper end of the compartmentof the space. If desired the refrigerator can be provided with a fanwhich causes air to pass over the vaporiser and thence through thespace.

The space within the cabinet comprises a plenum 23 defined between therear wall 25 of the space at an intermediate wall 27 which is spacedinwardly from the rear wall 25. The intermediate wall is provided with aplurality of openings 29 which provide communication between plenum 23and an intermediate portion 24 of the space defined between theintermediate wall 27 and the rear walls of the compartments.

Each compartment 15 slidably supports a drawer 31 which is moveable froma retracted position at which it is fully accommodated within thecompartment 15 (as shown in FIG. 1) and an extended position at which itextends forwardly from the compartment (as shown in the case of theuppermost compartment of FIG. 2). Each drawer comprises a lower wall, afront wall 35 and a rear wall 33 has an open top. The front face 35 ofeach drawer sealingly cooperates with the front opening of the cabinetsuch that when the drawer is in its retracted position the compartmentis sealingly closed at the front face. The rear wall of 33 of eachdrawer cooperates with the closure 17 of each compartment to move theclosure to its open position when the drawer is in its retractedposition. Each closure 17 is biased such that on the drawer being movedtowards its extended position out of engagement with the closure theclosure will move to its closed position.

As a result of the embodiment the space within the refrigerated cabinetis divided into a plurality of spaces which are each defined by thedrawers 31. Access to the drawers 31 is gained by opening the door 13 ofthe cabinet and moving the respective drawer 31 to its extendedposition. In so doing the communication between the plenum 23 and therespective compartment 15 is closed as a result of the closing of theclosure 17. Access to the contents of drawer 31 are gained through theopen top of the drawer. As a result communication between the plenum 23and each compartment is only effected when the drawer contained withinthe compartment is in its retracted position. Therefore when the door 13of the cabinet is open substantially little cold air is lost from thestorage space within the cabinet even when access is gained to theinterior of a drawer. With the door 13 open and a drawer 31 in itsextended position the plenum 23 is closed and access to the drawer isthrough the open top only and therefore little cool air is lost throughthe compartment. The most significant loss of cool air is a result ofdisturbance of the contents of the drawer.

In addition the door 13 supports a set of storage zones (not shown)which are each associated with a separate closure which enables accessinto each storage zone. Each storage zone is connected to a duct in thedoor which connects with a corresponding positioned passageway in theupper wall of the cabinet when the door is closed and which communicateswith the space around the vaporiser to enable cool air to flow into eachstorage zone to cool the contents thereof. If desired the passageway canalso communicate with the space defined between the door and the frontopening of the cabinet when the door is in its closed position.

According to a second embodiment of the invention (not shown) theclosure of each compartment may be accommodated by the rear wall of thedrawer which cooperates with the walls of the compartment to sealinglyclose the compartment on a drawer being moved from the retractedposition to the extended position but when the drawer is in the closedposition opens to provide communication between the source of cool airand the interior of the drawer.

According to a third embodiment of the invention the drawersubstantially cooperates with the walls of the compartment tosubstantially prevent any substantial movement of cool air from theplenum past the drawer and through the front opening. The engagementneed not be a sealing engagement. In addition the upper face cooperateswith the upper wall of the compartment whereby when thon the drawermoving to the retracted position the upper open face of the drawer opensinto the plenum space. According to this embodiment no closure isprovided between the respective compartment and the plenum space toisolate the compartment from the plenum space when the drawer is movedtowards its extended position.

Each of the embodiments of the invention described above can be appliedto a domestic refrigerated cabinet, domestic freezers, commercial coolrooms, commercial refrigerated cabinets and the like.

However, by the application of the invention a number of the constraintsto the design of refrigerator systems are removed and a design is ableto provide quite innovative designs which embrace the invention. In afourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a refrigeration system isprovided which embraces the freedoms provided by the invention. Theembodiment comprises at least one compartment 111 providing a storagespace which in use is installed within a suitable enclosure 112. Unlikethe embodiments previously described, the enclosure for the compartmentof the fourth embodiment is not a specialised refrigerator cabinet butrather may be any convenient enclosure such as a conventional kitchencabinet.

The compartment 111 comprises an insulated wall and has a front openingthrough which access is gained to the space and encloses a drawer 114adapted to slide between an extended position for access to the drawerand a retracted position wherein the drawer 114 is substantiallyenclosed within the compartment 111. The front, external wall 115 of thedrawer is insulated and sealing means is provided between the drawer andthe compartment (not shown) so that when the drawer is in the retractedposition the contents of the drawer are fully sealed and insulatedwithin the compartment. A suitable cooling means is provided so thatwhen the drawer 114 is in its retracted position the cooling means isadapted to cool the contents of the drawer and when the drawer 114 isnot in the retracted position the drawer is isolated from the coolingmeans.

This arrangement allows considerable freedom of choice over theselection of the cooling means. In the fourth embodiment, chilled airproduced by a remote source is distributed through a suitable ductingsystem 121. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, in the vicinity of acompartment, the ducting system 121 is provided with valved portingmeans 122 in the form of a short connecting duct entering thecompartment and housing a valve 123 which is adapted to be engaged bycorresponding porting means in the drawer 114 in the form of a suitablenozzle 124 at the rear of the drawer 114. When the drawer 114 is in theretracted position, the nozzle 124 opens the valve 123 and therebyenables chilled air to enter the drawer space.

In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A and 4B, the valve in theconnecting duct 122 comprises a plurality of flexible leaves 125normally extending across the throat of the connecting duct 122 tothereby seal the duct 122. The leaves 125 are readily displaced by thenozzle 124 to permit communication of the chilled air into the drawerspace. As the chilled air is circulated at low pressure, absolutesealing is not essential and fairly simple valving arrangements will befound satisfactory.

In certain adaptations, the nozzle 124 is also valved although this isnot considered important as external air must enter space behind thedrawer when the drawer is in the extended position. In the embodiment asshown in FIG. 3, a pair of ports is provided, one inlet and one outletport, thereby promoting good circulation of the chilled air. Again, thismay not be considered necessary in certain configurations. The portingarrangement just described should be considered as an example only ofthe type of disengagable connection that might be used and it should berecognized that one of many other known arrangements could also beadapted to the embodiment.

As mentioned earlier, the cooling means may take many forms. In a fifthembodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, chilled coolant is distributed ratherthan chilled air. A localised evaporator 211 is provided in a plenum 212associated with each compartment and isolation means is provided betweenthe drawer and the cooling means which is generally of the formdescribed in relation to the first embodiment. It is thought that thisarrangement may provide a system whereby localised thermostatic controlmay be provided to each drawer in a multi drawer system.

The arrangements such as those described in relation to the fourth andfifth embodiments lend themselves to providing a plurality of separatedcompartments in a single refrigeration system, as shown in FIG. 6. Thecompartments might be produced in a number of standardised sizes and aninterior designer might select several and locate them at differentpositions around a kitchen area. These might be linked to a single,common cooling source which could be located remote from thecompartments thereby removing the main noise source to another location.Some compartments could be provided immediately below bench-top leveland provided with a transparent viewing panel to enable a user toidentify the contents without opening the drawer. In such anarrangement, the transparent panel might be sealingly hinged so that itcould be opened to thereby provide an additional means of access as wellas by extending the drawer. Within such a system, where individualthermostatic control is provided, certain compartments could beconfigured as freezer units while others are less cooled for generalchilled goods. Indeed, other compartments might only be slightlychilled, for example for storing wine.

FIG. 7 illustrates another variation of the fourth embodiment of therefrigeration system according to the present invention in which aplurality of separated compartments 130 and 132 are provided within acabinet 134. Each compartment is occupied by a drawer 131 and 133respectively. Each drawer 131 and 133 has insulated walls for keepingthe contents thereof in a cooled condition and the interior of thedrawer is accessible from an upper portion of the drawer. Each drawer131 and 133 is moveable within its compartment from a retracted positionat which it is accommodated within the compartment and an extendedposition at which it extends forwardly from the cabinet. In theillustrated embodiment the upper drawer 131 is shown in the retractedposition, whereas the lower drawer 133 is shown in an extended position.

The refrigeration system further comprises cooling means provided remotefrom the cabinet for cooling each of the compartments in the cabinet.Each compartment has valved porting means provided in a rear wallthereof for connecting to the cooling means. When a drawer is in theretracted position, the cooling means is in fluid communication with thedrawer and when the drawer is in an extended position the cooling meansis isolated from the compartment occupied by the drawer.

As with the arrangement shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6, chilled air isproduced by a common cooling source 140 provided remote from the cabinet134. A ducting system 141 is provided with a valved porting means 142for communicating chilled air to each of the compartments 130 and 132 inthe cabinet. The valved porting means 142 typically comprises two shortconnecting ducts 144 and 144′ entering the rear wall of the compartmentand housing a respective valve 143. The valves 143 are adapted to beengaged by a corresponding nozzle 146 and 146′ in the rear wall of thedrawer. When a drawer is in the retracted position (as per drawer 131 inFIG. 7) the nozzles 146 open the valves 143 and thereby enable chilledair to flow through the drawer space. However when a drawer is moved toan extended position (as per drawer 131 in FIG. 7) the valves 143 closeisolating the cooling means from the compartment.

Preferably a pair of connecting ducts and corresponding nozzles areprovide in connection with each compartment and its drawer, a firstconnecting duct and its corresponding nozzle being located towards anupper region of the rear wall of the drawer and the compartment, and asecond connecting duct and its corresponding nozzle being locatedtowards a lower region of the rear wall of the drawer and thecompartment. Preferably cool air enters the compartment and its drawerthrough the second connecting duct and its corresponding nozzle, andexits the compartment and its drawer through the first connecting ductand its corresponding nozzle. Hence the cool circulates through thedrawer in a generally clockwise direction when viewed as shown in FIG.7.

All of the embodiments show a considerable improvement in totalefficiency over conventional refrigerators, as a result of the fact thatthere is a very substantial reduction in the volume of cooled air whichis lost when a compartment is opened. In addition, they are moreaccessible because the goods are arranged in the drawers rather thanbeing stacked on shelves where the rearmost items are relativelyinaccessible. This is an advantage to the general user but even moreparticular to those suffering from a disability.

Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, theword “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, willbe understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group ofintegers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group ofintegers.

It will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts thatvarious modifications and improvements may be made to the foregoingembodiments, in addition to those already described, without departingfrom the basic inventive concepts of the present invention. Therefore,it will be appreciated that the scope of the invention is not limited tothe specific embodiments described and is to be determined from theappended claims.

1. A refrigeration system comprising a refrigerated cabinet having afront opening through which access is gained to the cabinet, the cabinetbeing subdivided into at least one compartment, each compartment adaptedto be occupied by a drawer, each drawer being moveable within thecompartment from a retracted position at which it is accommodated withinthe compartment and an extended position at which it partly extendsforwardly from the compartment, and whereby the interior of the draweris accessible from an upper portion of the drawer, the system furthercomprising cooling means provided remote from the cabinet, eachcompartment having valved porting means provided in a rear wall thereoffor connecting to the cooling means wherein when the drawer is in theretracted position, the cooling means is in fluid communication with thedrawer and when the drawer is in the extended position the cooling meansis isolated from the compartment.
 2. A refrigeration system as claimedat claim 1, wherein the refrigerated cabinet is one of a plurality ofrefrigerated cabinets and the cooling means is provided to eachrefrigerated cabinet from a common cooling source.
 3. A refrigerationsystem as claimed at claim 1, wherein the valved porting means comprisesa short connecting duct entering the rear wall of the compartment andhousing a valve which is adapted to be engaged by a nozzle in the rearwall of the drawer.
 4. A refrigeration system as claimed at claim 3,wherein the short connecting duct is one of first and second connectingducts and the nozzle is one of respective first and second nozzles.
 5. Arefrigeration system as claimed at claim 4, wherein the first connectingduct and its corresponding nozzle is located towards an upper region ofthe rear wall of the drawer and the compartment, and the secondconnecting duct and its corresponding nozzle is located towards a lowerregion of the rear wall of the drawer and the compartment.
 6. Arefrigeration system as claimed at claim 3, wherein the valve comprisesa plurality of resilient leaves normally extending across the throat ofthe connecting duct to thereby seal the duct.
 7. A refrigeration systemas claimed at claim 6, wherein the leaves are readily displaced by thenozzle when the nozzle engages the valve to permit communication of thechilled air into the drawer space.
 8. A refrigeration system as claimedat claim 1, wherein one of the compartments is provided immediatelybelow bench-top level and is provided with a transparent viewing panelto enable a user to identify the contents without opening the drawer. 9.A refrigeration system as claimed at claim 8, wherein the transparentpanel is sealingly hinged so that it can be opened to thereby provide anadditional means of access to the drawer.
 10. A refrigeration system asclaimed at claim 1, wherein thermostatic control is provided for eachcompartment, whereby certain compartments can be configured as freezerunits while others are less cooled for general chilled goods.